Liverpool’s January exit will cost them the title

It’s that time again. The African Cup of Nations starts on 14 January and the Premier League will be without some of its top African players for up to three weeks. But could this (rather awkwardly timed) international tournament have an effect on who wins the Premier League title?

Arguably the biggest loss will be to Liverpool, who will be losing their Senegalese top scorer Sadio Mane, and with their title challenge being as fragile as a chocolate teapot already, this will be a bitter blow to the Kop faithful.

Liverpool’s recent good form has no doubt been influenced by Mane’s pace, energy and goals, and with the EFL Cup semi-final, a Premier League match against bitter rivals Manchester United and a long trip to Plymouth for an FA Cup replay coming up, you can be sure Klopp would rather have had the Senegalese dangerman in his selection options.

The 24-year-old attacking midfielder is Liverpool’s leading goalscorer with nine goals so far this season, all coming in the Premier League. And with four assists also to his name he has become a vital component to the Reds rich vein of form. Any Liverpool fans that claim he won’t be missed are probably quietly weeping inside.

Jurgen Klopp’s current first choice striker – Divock Origi – has only netted four times in 12 appearances in the Premier League this season and has struggled to endear himself to the Merseyside faithful. So, Mane’s absence could seriously damage Liverpool’s end of season ambitions.

Chelsea, Manchester City and Tottenham all avoid losing players to AFCON – held this year in Gabon. This will surely only help Chelsea’s recent near perfect form and could see them extend their lead at the top of the table.

Arsenal will be without their holding midfielder Mohamed Elneny. The Egyptian international seems to have split opinion in his short time in the capital – is he a no-fuss, just-goes-about-his-business type of player, or does he actuallynot have much influence on the outcome of a game? It must be said that I doubt he will be missed, and it’s usually about this time of the season that Arsenal tend to fall out of the title race anyway.

Eric Bailly being missing from the Manchester United squad seems to have been a regular occurrence this season without the need for a tournament hosted halfway through the league season, in 40-degree heat in an entirely different continent. And United fans will be confident of their team’s defensive capabilities without him, having conceded just seven goals in their last 12 games in all competitions, and still having no hope of being title contenders come the end of the season – with or without the Ivory Coast international.

If anything, AFCON will prove to split the top six into two categories: the genuine title contenders (Chelsea, Tottenham, Man City, Liverpool) and the title pretenders (Arsenal and Manchester United). With full squads at their disposal Chelsea, Spurs and City should extend their dominance in the Premier League. Meanwhile, without Mane, Liverpool will struggle for goals, and Arsenal and United don’t look convincing enough to go for the long haul.

9 of the strangest pre-match rituals

Kolo Toure

Not exactly one to look up to. But, when Toure was part of 'The Invincibles', people might have followed suit of the defender's routine.
Kolo HAS to be the last player to leave the dressing room, in fear that it might bugger up his current form that much more.
Source: Scottishsun

Laurent Blanc & Fabien Barthez

We love this one. During the '98 World Cup, French defender, Laurent Blanc kissed Barthez head before every game.
Source: L-ancdote

Leighton Baines

Leighton Baines opts to walk onto the field, un-tie his shoelaces, and then re-tie the laces.
Source: Media.guim

Bobby Moore

English icon, and legend of the game.
To be as good as Bobby, you've got be the last person to get dressed. The West Ham captain would always be the final player to get his kit on.
Source: Junglekley

Mesut Ozil

Ever wondered what the German is up to before kick-off? You know, when the Arsenal man looks like he's 350 pages deep into Harry Potter?
Well, he's reciting the Quran. If that's helping the No.11 create mad assists, maybe I should start picking up the religious book once in a while.
Source: Bigengines

Malvin Kamara

Personal favourite. Renegade footballer, Malvin Kamara, used to settle into the film, Willy Wonka, before every game.
The Wimbledon midfielder was rightly so, very specific with his preferred version. Opting for the original over that crappy version led by Johnny Depp.
Brilliant.
Source: Tuttogratis

Copy + paste defence

The backline for Italy was known for it's constant displays of successful defending, and over time it turned into something of a brick wall.
That has not translated over to London for Conte and he needs to work out what he wants to do with his defence, because he can't just copy and paste the same ideas and expect them to work every time.
This is a different set of players, and he needs to be aware of that.
Source: Mosdef

Filippo Inzaghi

What a clinical finisher the Italian was.
Secret? Eat children's biscuits. The AC Milan man would save two before every game, knock them back, and suddenly have a built-in radar to where the goal is.
Source: Tumblr

Eusebio

Recently labelled as better than Cristiano Ronaldo by Luis Figo.
Eusebio was one of the game's finest. And the Portuguese man achieved this all by having a lucky coin in his boot. The Benfica man carried this tradition on in retirement, by just storing a coin when out-and-about.
Source: Nasljerseys